Air Asia

Might of Air Asia: Internal Analysis perspective Strategic Management – Individual Assignment

Author: Sandy Hofman Aruan (222375)

Faculty of Economics and Commerce University of Melbourne 10 April, 2005

Table of Content Table of Content .................................................................................................................. i Executive Summary ............................................................................................................ 1 I.

Air Asia....................................................................................................................... 1

II.

Inside Air Asia ............................................................................................................ 2 A.

Value Chain Analysis ............................................................................................. 2

B.

Resources and Capabilities form Competencies..................................................... 5

III.

Competitive Advantages of Air Asia...................................................................... 7

IV.

Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 9

REFERENCE.................................................................................................................... 10

Author: Aruan, S. H.

i

Executive Summary

This report was an internal analysis of Air Asia (AA). It analyzed how AA managed its value chain, resources and how they created value for the firm. It also discussed how AA’s capabilities and competencies created competitive advantage. As a conclusion of this report, there were three factors in shaping the firm to its competitive position. First, it was the decision to utilize only one type of aircraft as its fleets. It was the foundation of AA to create the competitive weapon. Second, it was the synergy between AA’s management and its employees (Shari, 2003). Third, it was AA’s capabilities in suppressing cost. They were the concrete result from above practices. Various capabilities to decrease cost such as short-haul flight and quick turnaround time (Fernandes, 2004) were the backbone of AA’s practices in exercising their strategy.

I. Air Asia Founded in 2001, AA started its business journey as a low cost air carrier in Malaysia (Shari, 2003). Over the last four years, AA has experienced a sensational financial growth from RM 86 million debts (March 2000) to RM 161 million credit (September 2004) as shown in company financial report. By the year 2005, AA already had 16 modern Boeing 737 jets. They have been operating in six countries and serving more than five million customers.


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II.

Inside Air Asia This chapter analyzed the firm’s value chain and their organizational strength. It

identified the most significant resources and capabilities that formed AA’s competitive advantages.

A.

Value Chain Analysis Considering the environment where AA was competing, here are lists of activities,

as shown in table 1 and table 2, which were believed to be significant to AA in creating its value as a low cost air carrier. The analysis was based on Porter’s value chain.

Primary Activities Activities

Description Landing slots were scarce resources and also possessed critical

Landing slots Inbound Logistic

acquisition

value in airlines industry (OECD, 1997). AA needs to ensure that it had sufficient landing slots to support its flight schedules.

Aircraft leasing or

SEA market’s promising growth (Oum et al, 2000) would

purchasing

convince AA to keep extending its fleet to capture more profits.

Aircraft parts and

It is important to monitor the budget for this activity, as it

fuels purchasing


affects around 30% to overall cost (Corporate financial report).

2

Transporting

These are the main resources to AA for creating profits.

passenger

Operations

Aircraft ground maintenance

AA various methods in driving down the cost for this activity showed a great effect in suppressing the cost low. Tight competition with other competitors in acquiring limited

Flight scheduling

landing slots pushed AA to plan its flight schedule carefully. A well planned schedule and keeping it on time, enable AA to

Outbound Logistic

add more value on its brand as an on time delivery air carrier. AA only provides transportation services; no significant outbound logistic process can be identified. Important activities to popularize the brand of AA. Intensive Advertising and

Marketing & Sales

promotion

advertising and promotion has brought more than five million customers to use AA services (Corporate website, 2005).

This is a strategic enabler for AA to compete with other competitor. Online sales through this system captured more than 50 percent of AA revenue (Corporate website, 2005). Computer By optimizing the system, AA can develop more analytical tools Reservation System in delivering precise and right decisions on time, such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) or E-business

Service

(Taneja, 2002). To tackle problems with customers enquiries. Call center system

Table 1 – primary activities in AA


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Support Activities Support Activities Firm infrastructure

Description Formulate strategic decision for AA and encourage its employees in supporting the strategy.

HR Management

Provide recruitment and training to employees to keep them highly skilled and efficient

Technology

Develop methods in operating and maintaining aircraft that suppress the cost lower.

Procurement

Search the best quality product among suppliers without driving the cost high. Table 2 – support activities in AA

To summarize, AA has developed a considerable value chain in its approach to the strategy. The value for these activities really added a significant amount in its pursuit to provide low price air transportation services. However, there is no evidence whether AA has already implemented further management information system beyond its reservation system. It is recommended that AA should implement more analytical capabilities, such as Customer Relationship Management or Business Intelligence, in its computerized system. By implementing such technologies, AA will be able to bring better decision in proper time at proper place. (Sheehan, 2003)


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B.

Resources and Capabilities form Competencies After listing the activities that created value for AA, further analysis was to look

on significant resources and capabilities that helped AA in building its competencies.

Significant Resources 1. Constructive and supportive management. AA was very supportive and responsive in encouraging and listening to its employee for any ideas in reducing cost. This made the employees more productive and creative in doing their performance. 2. Highly skilled employees. They were the source of all capabilities that AA possessed. The experience and knowledge which they had were hard to imitate by other competitor. It is important for AA management to compensate these people well, as to reduce probability for other competitor to hijack them. 3. Capabilities to reduce cost. These were the competitive weapon that would be used by AA to corner other competitor. Their effect in reducing cost boosted AA to be one of the top in low cost air carrier competition.

Capabilities These were the product of AA employees’ creativity. All the capability that AA possessed required high skill from its conductor. Without sufficient knowledge, it will only give small benefit to AA.


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1. Quick turnaround time1 The longer aircraft on the ground means that the less productive it will be. By shortening the turnaround time, AA was able to gain more profits. It was gained by removing frills service and removing chair booking and extensive crew drilling on performing quick turnaround. (Shari, 2003) 2. low-cost short haul Management also conferred with mechanics on how to coddle spare parts so they can last longer. For example: to extend the landing gear usage time, mechanics advise pilots to take a shallow approach on landing (Shari, 2003). By doing such things, AA was able to lower the cost on short haul. It was because less part would need to be replaced. 3. high rate aircraft utilization Due to above practices, AA then will able to utilize its aircrafts at higher rate. Higher rate of utilization signify that higher profit will be gained by the firm and also lower the cost as the distributed fixed cost get smaller.

Competency All these capabilities enable AA to perform its competency in providing low cost air transportation services. Table 3 showed us how the capabilities that AA possessed enabled it to lead the air transportation market in providing low cost services.

1

Turnaround time: aircraft time to prepare itself from landing to takeoff again


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1.6

US $

1.2

0.8

0.4

0 Air Asia

Southw est

MAS

Virgin Blue

SA

Table 3 – Total cost per ASK2 in competition (Edited from Air Asia Analyst Presentation, 2005 Second Quarter Results)

III.

Competitive Advantages of Air Asia

There were three factors that form the competitive advantage for AA in providing low cost air transportation services. 1. The strategic decision in using one type of aircraft. It proved to be major strategic decision. It emphasized the meaning of economies of scale in significant amount. AA got the essence of smaller inventory, cubesquare rule and power of purchasing. Table 4 showed us that the cost/ASK for aircraft can be reduced until 50 percent. It also cut down the learning curve. Since they only handled one type of aircraft, training time can be reduced and eventually reducing cost. Again, table 4 showed us that AA had big advantage in staff cost.

2

ASK: Available seat kilometers, which is the total number of seats available on scheduled flights

multiplied by the number of kilometers these seats were flown. Cost per ASK: Total operating expenses (excluding finance costs and taxation) divided by ASK. In the airline industry, this is comparable to ‘unit cost’. Author: Aruan, S. H.

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Operating Expenses

Cost/ASK (US$) AA

Description

Others*

Staff cost

0.29

1.16

Fuel and Oil

1.11

1.03

Maintenance &

0.17

0.38

Overhaul

Superior productivity

Low-cost short haul reduce cost for maintenance

Cost of aircraft

0.25

0.50

Depreciation &

0.10

0.18

1.92

3.25

Emphasis on economies of scale

Amortization Total

41 % lower than others

Others: Gol, JetBlue, Southwest, Virgin Blue, EasyJet Table 4 – Cost per ASK comparison between AA and others (Edited from Air Asia Analyst Presentation, 2005 Second Quarter Results)

While this strategy was not really scarce, it actually enabled the factors that can realize AA competitive advantage. 2. The synergy between AA management and its employees. This synergy resulted many capabilities that form AA competitive advantage. Without the support from management, employee will be less motivated in their creation, and eventually will affect the firm’s performance. Therefore, the synergy proved to be important for AA and also hard to be imitated by other competitor. 3. The capabilities themselves. These were the most important one. The procedures, methods, tips that have been created by the employees, have helped AA to thrive on the low cost they produced. They were the secret of AA which were hard to


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imitate. The “one type of aircraft concept” then amplified their effect which made it more meaningful.

IV.

Conclusion Air Asia (AA) has exposed us an insightful example in showing how a keen and

critical strategic movement may drive a company that was almost bankrupt back into shape.

While AA management was providing a suitable business environment, its

employees demonstrated a highly productive and efficient performance in running the business and reducing cost. AA decision on using uniform aircraft also put into account. It emphasized the principle of economies of scale and also it will eventually reduce learning curve. However, AA actual main strength was based in its innovative ways to keep the cost low which was hard to imitate. With those entire factors combined together, AA has shown how synergies between management, employee and its environment can develop a competitive advantage that brought Air Asia to be the contender as market leader in the competition.


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REFERENCE Air Asia (2005). Corporate Web Site. Retrieved on April 10, 2005, from http://www.airasia.com/

Air Asia (2005). Analyst Presentation 2005, Second Quarter Results. Retrieved on March 29, 2005, from http://www.airasia.com/investor/pdf/AirAsia_Second%20Quarter%202005_Analyst%20 Presentation_21st%20February%202005.pdf

Fernandes, T. (2004). Malaysia’s High-Flier. Business Week, i3891 July 12, 2004 (p. 58)

Grant, R. M. (2005). Contemporary Strategy Analysis. Blackwell Publishing

OECD (1997). The Future of International Air Transport Policy: Responding to Global Change. Paris: OECD

Oum, T. H. & Yu, C. (2000). Shaping Air Transport in Asia Pacific. Aldershot, England: Ashgate Publishing Ltd

Oum, T. H. & Yu, C. (1998). Winning Airlines: Productivity and Cost Competitiveness of the World’s Major Airlines. Norwell, Massachusetts, USA: Kluwer Academic Publisher


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Porter, M. (1998). Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance: with a New Introduction. New York: Free Press

Shari, M. (2003). A Discount Carrier Spreads its Wings; Air Asia is Going International, and Rivals are Scrambling. Business Week, i3847 Sept 1, 2003 (p. 27)

Sinha, D. (2001). Deregulation and Liberalisation of the Airline Industry. Aldershot, England: Ashgate Publishing Ltd

Taneja, N. K. (2002). Driving Airline Business Strategies through Emerging Technology. Aldershot, England: Ashgate Publishing Ltd


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Air Asia

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